Tuesday

Big news from Alexandria is that a $450 million deal has been reached to close the GenOn Energy (formerly Mirant, formerly PEPCO) coal-fired generating station located on the Potomac, about 3/4 mile from Arlington.

Major players in the deal are the City of Alexandria, the American Clean Air Foundation (which is closely linked to the natural gas industry) and the Sierra Club.

The GenOn generating station will likely cease operating in October 2012 and be demolished, then redeveloped into an upscale mixed-use waterfront neighborhood, full of energy-guzzling residences, commercial properties, vehicles, and yachts.

The feeling among all parties to the deal was akin to the way the Obama Administration felt about Osama Bin Laden earlier this year, the generating station was worth more dead than alive.

Although the GenOn station is located less than a mile from Arlington, it appears that Arlington County has had little or no say about the operation, retirement, and redevelopment of the generating station and its associated infrastructure.